The fundamentals of computer science are increasingly important to consider as critical educational and occupational competencies, as evidenced by the rapid growth of computing capabilities and the proliferation of the Internet in the 21st century, combined with reimagined national education standards. Despite this technological and social…

One factor, summer reading loss, exacerbated by students living in rural, poverty areas gave rise to this study. The overall research problem was summer reading loss. The study looked at whether students attending fifth through eighth grades in a rural, poverty district and who participated in an at-home summer reading intervention where texts…

Despite increased inclusion of individuals with special needs in educational and leisure settings, people with disabilities continue to experience social isolation. Research indicates that negative attitudes play an important role in contributing to this marginalization. This study examined the impact of an inclusion program at a residential…

This research analyzed the effects of teacher professional development and lesson implementation in integrated Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) on: (1.) Teacher self-efficacy and their confidence to teach specific STEM subjects; (2.) Teaching outcome expectancy beliefs concerning the impact of actions by teachers on student…

Urban environmental educators are trying to connect students to the urban environment and nature, and thus develop a certain sense of place. To do so, educators involve students in environmental stewardship, monitoring, activism, and outdoor recreation in cities. At the same time, sense of place has been linked to pro-environmental behaviors and…

Beginning in elementary school, those students who struggle to acquire basic reading skills tend to demonstrate a stronger tendency towards task avoidance. As a result of their avoidant behaviors, students' reading ability progresses at a slower rate, which leads to further task evasion. The current study addressed task avoidance among…

Already academically at risk, students in the rapidly growing English Language Learner (ELL) student population in the United States face additional challenges due to regression of English language acquisition over the average ten-week agrarian summer break when they return to homes in which Spanish was the primary language spoken. While the…

This study investigated oral reading fluency development among Hispanic high school English-language learners. Participants included 11 males and 9 females from first-year, second-year, and third-year English language arts classes. The pre-post experimental study, which was conducted during a four-week ESL summer program, included a treatment and…

Less than 50% of students from an inner-city high school in a southeastern US state who took the GATEWAY mathematics exam (2001-2007) earned a passing score on the first attempt, prompting teachers at the school to begin a summer intervention program based on Bandura's Self Efficacy Theory, to help them succeed on a subsequent reexamination. The…

Understanding the ways in which scientific knowledge develops, or the epistemology of science, is believed to be a crucial component of scientific literacy. This construct is more formally known as Nature of Science (NOS) within the science education community. The merits of three different approaches to NOS teaching and learning in the context of…

With the changing U.S. demographics, higher numbers of diverse, low-income, first-generation students are underprepared for the academic rigors of four-year institutions oftentimes requiring assistance, and remedial and/or developmental coursework in English and mathematics. Without intervention approaches these students are at high risk for…

The purpose of this action research study was to determine how peer-assisted learning (PAL) could be implemented to support improved academic achievement, persistence, and attitudes toward math for community college students in an intermediate developmental algebra course. Students in two sections of an intermediate algebra course, with an…

This quasi-experimental study measured the effectiveness of a locally created summer Algebra readiness program in a large suburban high school district in New Jersey. Incoming ninth grade students who were not ready for high school algebra were invited to participate in the summer program. The program was designed to provide access to more…

Summer reading setback is a phenomenon that occurs over the summer break when students lose the skills they gained over the school year. While school-year gains are similar for disadvantaged and more-advantaged students, the achievement gap widens over the summer months. Lack of print access and less time spent reading result in greater summer…